Textile warping machine



March 20, 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Feb. 2'7, 1953 KMR OSE 7T. NR. 5E0 WM MW DN M A H r ATTORNEY March 0, 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2'7, 1953 14 Sheets-Sheet 2 ANDR EM! ROBE ('5 ON E ALLAN \J H PORT R WM [Hm I March 20, 1956 ROBERTSON ET AL 7 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1953 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 w wws/vro/z Q v ANDREW RDBERTSUN ALLAN \J.H- PORTER WM WM M624 March 20, 1956 Filed Feb. 27, 1953 A. ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 4 //VV/V70k ANDREW ROBERTSO N ALLAN W. H. PORTER 5) 741m WM ym ATTORNEY MarCh 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb, 27, 1953 14 Sheets-Sheet 5 2oz 200 F/G. 5.

ANDREW ROBERTSON ALLAIN w-H- PORTER W wM1Mw ATTORNEY March 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 2'7, 1953 14 Sheets-Sheet 6 //vv/vro,e

ANDREW ROBERTSON BYALLAN w. H PORTER WM WM W A 770 k/VE y March 20, 1956 RQBERTSQN ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1953 1.4 Sheets-Sheet 7 F/GB.

/VVE/VTO Q ANDREW ROBERTSON ALLAN w. H i 0RTE R WW a/MvW ,4 770 k/vEy March 20, 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1955 14 Sheets-Sheet 8 wvf/vmz ANDREW ROBER S on BALLAN wu PORTER Y WOW-C March 20, 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE l4 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Feb. 27, 1953 OWE/Woe ANDREW ROBERTSON ALLAN \d-H PORTER March 20, 1956 A, ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1953 14 Sheets-Sheet 1O wuavrae ANDREW ROBERTSON ALLAN wH- PORTER March 20, 1956 A, ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Filed Feb. 27, 1953 14 Sheets-Sheet 11 WVE/VTOR l6/ ANDREW ROBERTSON ALLAN w-H- PORTER WM g MYW A TOR/VE) March 20, 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL 2,738,565

TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE //Vl /V70/Q ANDREW ROBERTSON RLLHN w PORTER 6) W2 4 WM M March 20,- 1956 A. ROBERTSON ET AL TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE 14 She'ets-Sheet 14 Filed Feb. 27, 1955 wvavroz ANDREW ROBERTSON ALLAN \J-H- PORTER WM zuMwM v ATTORNEY United States Patent TEXTILE WARPING MACHINE Andrew Robertson, Stoke Bishop, Bristol, and Allan William Henry Porter, 'Burton-on-Trent, England, assignors to F. F. Limited, Burton-on-Trent, England Application February 27, 1953, Serial No. 339,288

, 10 Claims. (31. 28-39 This invention relates to warping machines for winding warp beams for use in looms and warp knitting machines. In such machines, the spool onto which the warp is wound is supported between centres and is driven so that the warp threads are drawn from a creel, through a series of tension rollers and reeds or sleys, so that the threads are arranged on thebeam in the desired orderly manner. 1 r

The present invention provides an improved warping machine, in which the control arrangements are simplified and which is susceptible of various adjustments by which-it may be readily adapted to different widths of warp. so that the conditions under which the warp is wound may be readily varied.

The machine is accordingly controlled, according to the invention, by a single main control member, movement of which to start the machine causes in order, the

, brakes to be released; the main driving clutch to become engaged; and the electrical circuits to be energised, particularly the circuit for the main driving motor. This motor is a variable speed motor with adjustable brush gear and it is preferred to control the position of the brush gear by a solenoid operated ratchet mechanism to vary the speed. In addition the taping bar and the front sley (that is the sley nearest to the beam) are mounted as a unit so as to be adjustable about a substantially vertical axis at its centre so that the sley may be rotated in a plane parallel to the warp, enablingthe eifective pitch of the teeth of the sley to be altered, and so that the overall width of the warp corresponds to the width of the warp spool, The mounting for the taping sley may also be moved towards and away from the beam, so that the taping surface of the taping bars runs close to and parallel to the sheet of warp. The front sley and taping bar are also capable of longitudinal adjustment on the casting; that is to say, adjustment in a horizontal plane, transverse to the direction of the warp threads.

An example of a machine according to the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the machine;

Figure 2 is a view as seen from the left in Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary view as seen from the direction of the arrow III in Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a section of the headstock on the line IV-IV in Figure 1; s

Figure 5 is a side view of the head-stock shown in Figure 4;

Figure 6 is a fragmentary view showing the tail-stock lock seen in Figure 3 in part section;

Figure 7 shows an enlarged detail in elevation of the arrangement of the tension rollers seen onlthe right of Figure 1;

2,738,565 Patented Mar. 20, 1956 1 as seen from the left in Figure 7; l

Figure 10 shows the tension roller brake arrangements as seen from the right in Figure9;,

Figure 11 shows the speedometer dial;

Figure 12 shows the arrangementfor rocking the brush gear in side elevation;

Figure 13 is a plan view from beneath of the mechanism shown in Figure 12;

Figure 14 is an enlarged side elevation of the adjustable mounting ofthe front sley as seen in Figure 1;

Figure 15 is a section of Figure 14 on the line XV-XV; 7

Figure 16 is a plan view of the mechanism shown in Figure 14;

Figure 17 is a front elevation of the front sley bar shown in Figure 16; a

Figure 18 is a diagram showing a simple form of the electrical circuit.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2, the main frame of the warper consists of two circular castings 1 from each of which a pair of feet 2 radiate. The castings also carry arms 3 connected by across-tube 4 for supporting the tension rollers, and arms 5 for supporting the combined safety rail and control lever 6. The winding mechanism for supporting and driving the beam is earriedon a bed plate 7 ofgreat strength and rigidity spanning between the two castings 1.

As seen in Figures 2 and 3, the head-stock 8' is secured at one end of the bed plate 7 and carries a beam-driving disc 9 for engaging the beam or spool to be wound and driven through one or other of the pulleys 10, 11, which are driven by a V-belt 12 from a variable speed motor 13 which drives the two-speed pulleys 12:: through a main driving clutch 13a. The belt drive is protected by a guard 14.

The head-stock is shown in detail in Figure 4. The pulleys 10, 11 are formed as a single annular member bolted to a brake drum 15 secured to the head-stock spindle 16 running in ball bearings 17 and roller bearings 18 in the headstock, and carrying the beam driving disc 9. A pulley 19 is secured to the spindle 16 for driving a revolution counter 20 (see Figures 1 and 2). In Figure 4, brake shoes-are not'shown, but they are enclosed within the brake drum 15 by a stationary cover plate 21 which carries a brake adjuster 22 and a brake operating plunger 23 which acts to apply the brake shoes to the brake drum 15 when it is moved to the right in Figure 4. To produce this braking action, as seen in Figures 4 and 5, the rod 23 passes through an eye 24 in the end of a long vertical arm 25 secured to the shaft 26. A collet washer 27 is provided on the push rod 23 in a position which can be adjusted by the stop nuts 28 and which is caused to bear upon the end of the arm 25 by a biassing spring in the brake which is not shown. The arm 25 is urged towards the right in Figure 4 by a powerful spring 29 partially housed in the sleeve 30 and anchored to the adjustable slider 31, The arm 25 is provided with a follower roller 32 which bears upon a cam rod 33 which runs from front to back of the head-stock and carries a pair of coned surfaces 34, 35 so that when the cam rod 33 is pulled forward (that is to the right in Figure 5), against the action of the spring 36 acting between a plate 37 on the rod 33 and the bracket 38, the follower roller 32 rides up the coned surface 34 so that the arm 25 is moved to the left in Figure 4 against the spring 29, and the brake is released. The mechanism is shown with the brake applied in Figures 4 and 5.

As shown in Figures 3, 4 and 5, the shaft 26 also carries a bell-crank 39 freely rotatable on the shaft and having a horizontal arm 40 which is connected by a link 41 to a bell-crank 42 pivoted at 43, and the other arm of which transmits the movement of the bell-crank 39 to the main clutch 13a, so that, when the bell-crank 39 rotates in a clockwise direction as seen in Figure 4, the main clutch 13a is engaged, and when the bell-crank 39 rotates in an anticlockwise direction, the main clutch 13a is disengaged. In this way the motor 13 is left to run idly when the brake is applied so that the brake does not have to bring the motor to a stop and is thus relieved of considerable load, and moreover, there is no danger of damaging the motor due to violent braking.

From the brake-on position shown in Figures 4 and 5, the mechanism is moved to the brake-off position by the operator pulling the guard rail 6 carried on a transverse shaft 45 towards him. The shaft 45 carries a short arm 46 as seen in Figures 2, 3, and 5 which is connected by the link 47 to a collar 48 on the cam rod 33. The position of the collar 48 is adjustable by the nuts 49. A butfer spring 50 is provided between the collar 43 and the stationary bracket 38 which carries the cam rod 33. A spring 51 is provided between the arm 46 and a stationary shroud 52 surrounding the link 47. To hold the cam rod 33 to the right as seen in Figure 5 for normal running, a detent 53 is secured to a shaft 54 journalled in the bracket 38. This detent 53 is a stirrup, the cross-piece of which rides on the cam surface 35 so as to pass over that surface when the rod 33 is pulled to the right and thereafter engages the shoulder 55 so that the rod 33 cannot return. The detent 53 can be disengaged by interrupting the current to a solenoid 56, the armature of which is connected by a push rod 57 to an extension 58 secured to one side of the stirrup detent 53. The armature of the solenoid is biassed upwards.

The bell-crank 39 is turned to engage the clutch 13a by the cam surface 35 which bears upon a follower roller 59 carried by the upwardly extending arm 60 of the bellcrank 39. The relationship of the coned surfaces 34 and 35 is such that upon movement of the rod 33, the clutch 13a is dis-engaged before application of the brake, and engaged after release of the brake.

So that the mechanism may be held with the brake off even when the solenoid 56 is not excited, a spring-loaded hand operated plunger 61 is mounted on the shroud 52 so as to engage a notch 63 in an extension 64 of the cam rod 33. When the plunger is engaged with the notch 63, both the brake and clutch 13A are disengaged. The plunger 61 is furnished with a cross pin 65 which supports the plunger against the action of the spring 66 by engaging the top surface of the collar 67, but when the plunger is required to engage the notch 63 it is rotated until the pin 65 drops into slots 68 in the collar 67.

To start the motor 13 when the guard rail 6 is pulled by the operator, the shaft 26 is provided with a short arm 69 carrying a screw stop 70 which engages an actuator 71 of a micro-switch 72 as seen in Figures 4 and 5 when the shaft 26 rotates anticlockwise. The operation of the micro-switch 72 acts to start the motor 13 and is arranged to take place after the engagement of the clutch 13A.

The tail-stock as seen in Figures 2 and 3 consists of a beam-supporting disc 73 freely rotatable in the tail-stock casting 74 which can slide on rail surfaces 75 of the bed plate 7. It can be locked in any desired position by means of the hoop shaped lever 76 which is pivoted to the tail-stock at 77 and the action of which is shown in Figure 6. The shaft 77 to which the lever 76 is secured has a flat 78, and sliding wedge 79 is caused to bear upon this part of the shaft by a spring 80. The wedge moves up and down the inclined face 81 of a ramp 81 which is secured to the tail-stock casting 74 by a screw 83 and which can be adjusted in position by the set screw 84. Thus, when the wedge 79 is engaged with the fiat 78 as shown in Figure 6, the tail-stock is free to slide on the rails 75, but when the lever 76 is turned into the position shown dotted in Figure 6, the Wedge is driven up the face 81 of the ramp 82 so that its upper surface 85 engages the over-hanging under-surface of the rail 75 to lock the tail-stock in position.

As seen in Figure l, the warp threads 86 reach the machine from a creel (not shown) on the right, passing first through a reed or sley 87 mounted on brackets 88, after which the threads pass round the movably mounted tension roller 89 (see Figures 8 and 10) and the tension roller 90 mounted on a fixed spindle. The warp thrcads then pass through the droppers of a conventional stopmotion 91 before passing to the front sley 92 and the beam. The movable roller 89 is journalled on a shaft 93 fixed at each end at 94 at the end of a hook shaped arm 95 carried by a cross shaft 96 which is journalled in upwardly extending brackets 97 mounted at the ends of the arms 3 of the main casting. The brackets 97 also provide a support for the arms 88 and the sley 87, and for the stop-motion 91, as Well as for a fixed shaft 99 on which the fixed roller 90 is journalled. It Will be seen that by swinging the arms 95 upwards, the movable'tension roller 89 can be swung clear of the warp threads which greatly facilitates threading the machine up. The downward movement of the arms 95 is limited by the engagement of the stop face 100 with an adjustable stop 101 carried by the cheeks 102 in which the cross shaft 99 is secured.

A speedometer 103 is mounted at the top of one of the arms 3 and is driven from the fixed roller 90 by a belt 104 which passes round one end of the roller 90 and round a pulley 105 on the speedometer shaft 106. This shaft also carries a smaller pulley 107 from which a yardage counter 108 mounted on the bracket 109 is driven by a belt 110 and pulley 111.

At the other ends of the tension rollers 89, 90 tension and stopping brake arrangements are provided as shown in Figures 7, 9 and 10. The tension brake for restraining the rollers during winding so that the desired tension is imparted to the warp threads, consists of a belt 112 extending from an adjustable spring anchorage 114 secured to the cross shaft 96 by a collar 115, round the tension rollers 90, 89, as shown in Figure 10, the lower end of the belt 112 being loaded by a weight 113 by varying which the tension imparted to the warp threads is adjusted. The stopping brake consists of a pair of brake shoes 116 one on each of the rollers 89, 90 and pivoted to an equalizing link 117 which is pivoted at its centre to a plunger 118 slidable in a guide sleeve 119 and urged by a spring 120 towards the right in Figure 10. The spring 120 bears on a nut 121 on a set screw 122 adjustable in the end of the plunger 118 and caused to engage a cam 123 by the spring 120. The cam 123 is secured to a shaft 124 journalled in the bracket 125 and which carries at its lower end a lever arm 126 to the end of which a connecting rod 127 is pivoted (Figure 10). This connecting rod is urged to the left in Figure 10 by the spring 128 adjustable by the nut 129 so as to apply the brake. The brake is released by a solenoid 130 which draws the armature 131 to which the rod 127 is pivoted to the right in Figure 10. The solenoid 130 is excited by the closing of a switch 130A (Figs. 4 and 5) which is closed while the machine is runningby the plate 37 hearing on the arm 13013 of the switch.

As the beam is wound, the diameter of the surface of the warp threads on to which they are being wound increases, so that to maintain a constant yarn speed, the rotational speed of the beam must progressively decrease. The motor 13 is a variable speed alternating current motor of the type in which the speed is controlled by rocking the brush gear. The brushes are rocked by mechanism of any known type driven by a shaft 132, seen in Figures 2 and 3, which is turned to vary the speed by the mechanism'shown in FigureslZand 13am! housedin'the case 133 (Figure 3),controlled by the speedometer 103. This speedometer, as seen in Figure 11 has a moving pointer 134 which moves over the dial 135 according to the linear speed of the warp thread, and the cover glass 136 carries a pair of hand set pointers 137, 139 set by the knobs 138, 140 respectively. The knob 141 and locking member 142 are provided to fix the two hand set pointers in position when they have been adjusted. The pointer 137 is set to the maximum desirable yarn speed and the pointer 139 to the minimum. When the pointer 134 reaches either of the two hand set pointers 137,139, it causes contacts 143, 144 respectively on the pointers 137, 139 to close. These contacts are connected-to the solenoids 145, 146 respectively of the brushrocking mechanism shown in Figures '12 and 13 and contained in the case 133. This mechanism consists of a shaft 147 carried by brackets'148, 149 and from which the brush rocking shaft 132 is driven by means of the chain wheel 150 and the chain 151 and chain wheel 152 on the shaft 132 (Fig. 3). The shaft 147 carries oppositely facing ratchet wheels 153,154 (Fig. 13). Pawl arms 155, 156 are freely rotatable on the shaft 147 and carry respectively pawls 158. The arms 155, 156 also carry cross-heads 159 which are secured to threaded rods 160, 161 which are linked at 162, 163 respectively to the armatures 164, 165 of the solenoids 145, 146 respectively. The arms 155, 156 are biased away from their respective solenoids by springs 166, 167. The arrangement is such that when the solenoid 145 is exicted by the closing of the contacts 143 on the pointer 137 of the speedometer, the rod 160 moves to the right in Figure 12 and the pawl 158 which is biased by the spring 168 to engage the ratchet wheel 153 causes the ratchet wheel to run in a clockwise direction, and the movement of. the shaft 147 is transmitted to the brush gear to cause the motor to slow down slightly. When the contacts 144 on the pointer 139 are closed, the solenoid 146 is excited so as to cause the shaft 147 to rotate in an anti-clockwise direction, as seen in Figure 12, and thus increase slightly the speed of the motor 13. To ensure that the pawls 158 are kept free of the ratchet wheels 153, 154, when the solenoids are not excited, thus enabling the shaft to rotate in either direction when one or other solenoid is excited, a fixed ramp member 169 is provided to engage each pawl 158 as shown in Figure 12 and lift it clear of the ratchet wheel as the spring 166 draws the armature 164 out of the solenoid'145. To enable the ratchet mechanism to advance by more than one tooth when the speed-controlling contacts are closed, the circuits to the solenoids 145, 146

These include micro-switches 170, 171 respectively. switches are operated by feelers 172 bearing on cam members 173 pivoted at 174 and integral with arms 175 through which the threaded rods 161 pass. The threaded rods have stop nuts 176, 177 on each side of the arms 175 and these are spaced apart so as to give a lost-motion efiect. The micro-switches are normally closed. When for example, the solenoid 145.is excited, the armature 164 moves to the right in Figure 12 and eventually the stop 176 engages the arm 175 and turns the cam 173 so that the feeler 172 lifts and opens the micro-switch 170. By this time the ratchet wheel has advanced one tooth. The spring 166 now withdraws the armature 164 and the pawl 158 back one tooth, and the stop 177 engages the arm 175 to turn the cam 173 and reclose the micro-switch 170. The operation is repeated until the contacts on the speedorneter reopen.

It will be seen from Figure 1 that the height of the warp threads 86 as they approach the beam varies considerably during winding. It is therefore necessary'for the position of the front sley 92 to be adjusted at intervals to ensure that the threads do not move out of the upper ends of the teeth of the sley. As seen in Figures 1 and 14 to 17, the sley 92 is mounted on a rigid transverse member 178, which also constitutes the taping bar on which it is adjustable longitudinally by the setting screw 179 situated I 6 at one end'of the member 178, the other end being freely slideable on guides 180 (see Figure 17). The member 178 is pivoted at 181 on a vertical axis to the bracket plate 182 carried on the end of the horizontal arm 183 which can slide but cannot rotate in a sleeve 184. The member 178 is capable of limited adjustment about the pin 181 and can belocked in positionby the screws 185 passing through slots 186. Thus, by means of this adjustment, the

effective pitch of the teeth of the sley 92 can be varied, V

and by adjusting the arm 183 "andthe sleeve 184, the sley can be'moved towards and away from the beam. The sleeve 184 is carried at the upper end of a vertical rack 187 which passes through a rigid fixed vertical guide 188 forming part of a bracket 189 Wl'1i ch can be rocked about a horizontal transverse axis to a limited extent by virtue of the'screw and slot arrangement 190. This enables the teeth of'the sley to be kept as nearly as possible normal to the direction of the warp thr'eadsf The sleeve 188 carries a horizontal shaft 191 provided with a hand wheel 192 and a pinion 193 engaging the rack 187 so that, by rotating the wheel 192, the rack and the sley can be raised and lowered. A detent 194 pivoted at 195 and controlled by a hand lever 196 is provided to lock the pinion 193 against uncontrolled rotation. To make the mounting of the sley more rigid, a guide rod 197'is provided sliding in bracket 198 carried by the sleeve 188 and secured to a bracket 199 mounted on the sleeve 184.

The motor control circuits illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 18 are housed in the case 209 (Figs. 1 and 2). A master switch 210 is provided to isolate the warper completely. The warper is controlled by the guard rail 6 and by push buttons 203, 204, 205 on a control panel 200 (Figs. 2 and 5). A switch 201 is provided to isolate the droppers of the stop motion 91 as in Fig. 18.

The motor 13 is controlled by a starter switch 208 operated by a solenoid 207 when the switch 72 is closed on pulling the guard rail 6. This also closes the switch 130A and energises the solenoid 130 to relieve the tension roller brakes 116 (Fig. 10). The machine is stopped either by the droppers of the stop motion 91, or by depressing the push button 205, either of which energises the relay 206 to open the solenoid 56 causing the switches 72 and 130A to open.

The contacts 143, 144 are in parallel with the push buttons 203, 204 respectively so that the solenoids 145, 146 of the brush rocking gear in the case 133 can be controlled either by the speedometer pointer 134 or by hand.

We claim:

1. A warping machine comprising rotatable beam su ports, an electric motor to drive at least one of said supports, a brake to arrest the movement of at least one of said supports, a main clutch between said motor and the driven support, mechanism to release and apply said brake, mechanism to engage and disengage said main clutch, control means to start and stop said motor, and a main control member having both a running and a stationary position and adapted to successively release said brake mechanism, engage said clutch mechanism and actuate said motor control means to start said motor upon movement from the stationary to the running position.

2. A warping machine according to claim 1 having at least one tension roller, a brake for said tension roller, and means connected to said control member to release said tension roller brake prior to the actuation of said clutch mechanism during said movement.

3. A warping machine according to claim 2 comprising electro-magnetic means to operate said tension roller brake and a switch engageable by a part carried by said control member and connected to operate said electromagnetic means.

4. A warping machine according to claim 1 in which the main control member is biased into the stationary position, and having a mechanism engageable with said main control member to hold said main control member "7 in the running position, and means to disengage said mechanism.

5. A warping machine according to claim 4, in which said main control member engageable mechanism comprises a detent, electro-magnetic means to disengage said dctent, an electrical stop-motion and a hand-operated switch upon operation of either of which said detent is disengaged.

6. A warping machine according to claim 4 further comprising a safety rail movable with said main control member adapted to impede access to the revolving beam when said maincontrol member is in the running position.

7. A warping machine according to claim 1, in which the main control membercomprises a first cam surface, a follower engaged with said first cam surface and linked to the brake mechanism, a second cam surface, a follower engaged with said second cam surface and linked to the said clutch mechanism, and a part engageable with a switch controlling said motor.

8. A warping machine according to claim 1, in which a hand-operated detent is provided engageable with said control member to hold the said control member in the stationary position.

9. A warping machine comprising rotatable supports for supporting a beam at opposite ends, an electric motor operatively connected to drive one of said supports, a

brake disposed to arrest the rotation of one of said supports, a main clutch interposed in the drive between said motor and said driven support, mechanism to release and apply said brake, mechanism to engage and disengage said main clutch, control means for starting and stopping said motor and a single control element manually movable between a stationary position and a running position and having a configuration such as to engage and actuate said brake mechanism, said clutch mechanism and said motor control means so as to release said brake, to engage said clutch and to start said motor in that sequence during the course of its movement from the stationary to the running position.

10. A warping machine according to claim 9, further comprising a detent mounted to retain said control ele- References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Peterson et a1 Sept. 12, 1939 Lambach Feb. 22, 1944 

